The Mountaineers held Coastal Carolina to a scoreless tie

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — No. 7 West Virginia had the opportunity to be on the verge of wrapping up the Sun Belt Conference regular-season championship when it faced a Coastal Carolina team that finished eighth in the 10-team league on Thursday night.

However, the Chanticleers recorded their fifth shutout of the season and held the Mountaineers to a scoreless tie. WVU had an 18-7 advantage in shots but couldn't break through.

“As long as the result was zero, they were happy. We were happy with just having the ball. That's not enough against a team like that. We had so many examples of games before. Apparently they've done this before. They did this against JMU and against Marshall. The scout should not be tempted to play at a comfortable tempo. And the score was zero-nil,” WVU head coach Dan Stratford said.

“We didn't use the control we had in the first half and didn't put them under enough pressure in the first half. And what I expected from them at half-time was that once we took 25 minutes to try. We didn’t implement our tactics even at half-time.”

The Mountaineers (10-1-5, 5-0-3) had a 13-1 edge in corner kicks but were unable to convert one against CCU (3-9-3, 1-4-3 Sun Belt). Beat goalkeeper Tristan Himes.

“If it comes up against a 1.80 meter tall goalkeeper, it’s not good for anyone. I told them at halftime: “The one time we played short, we had a chance.” And we didn't play short again. The quality of decision-making under pressure, the pressure because we hadn't scored, we showed some cracks and some naivety. We haven’t done enough to shake things up and change things.”

West Virginia's best chance to score came in the 50th minute when Marcus Caldeira took a free kick just outside the CCU penalty area and fired it onto the post.

Graduate student Lorenzo Nunez made his first start and second appearance of the year as part of a senior starting lineup for WVU. He made three saves.

“They would thrive on brief moments, transitional moments. Some of their efforts were speculative. They tested it a few times and it did its job.”

West Virginia (18 points) now has a three-point lead over Marshall (15 points) at the top of the Sun Belt Conference. The Thundering Herd visit Kentucky on Friday and host the Mountaineers on the final night of the regular season on Tuesday. Should Marshall lose to the Wildcats, WVU would secure at least a share of the Sun Belt title.

“You know what’s at stake. You know that after today's result we also have to make up some ground from an RPI perspective. They have a really important four days ahead of them to make sure they dust themselves off and recover as best they can and show how much it means when they turn up on Tuesday in a very hostile environment.

“To be honest, we probably prefer a slightly more open game with a bit more transitions and a bit more flow. I think most teams do that. It will be a completely different challenge than today.”